Power distribution: Shettima calls for radical shake-up at UN

Vice-President Kashim Shettima has urged a comprehensive overhaul of the United Nations (UN), emphasizing the need to reestablish the Security Council with permanent seats for Africa. Shettima highlighted that the world in 2026 cannot continue to be bound by the power distribution of 1945, and Africa cannot be marginalized while contributing to its agenda from the sidelines.

He advocated for Nigeria to secure at least two permanent seats for the continent, complete with full rights, responsibilities, and the veto power, alongside a total of five non-permanent seats. Shettima stressed that the responsibility of speaking for humanity comes with the obligation to represent all its members.

President Bola Tinubu echoed Shettima's call for immediate cessation of global warfare and rejection of rising nationalism. He warned that the international order is at stake and urged world leaders to unite in dismantling unilateral aggression, restoring the UN Charter's foundational principles, and embracing multilateralism. Tinubu also stressed that nations cannot isolate conflicts affecting others, and the UN must restore trust in its ability to reconcile differences and advance global common interests.

Tinubu highlighted Nigeria's peacekeeping efforts in Africa as a model of responsibility, offering to assume greater risks to restore peace in the continent, similar to past commitments in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Darfur, Mali, and The Gambia. He emphasized that Nigeria's foreign policy is grounded in the same principles guiding its economic reforms, focusing on disciplined macroeconomic management, robust institutions, private-sector growth, and strategic public investment.

The President underscored that internal gains cannot be separated from external threats and that leaders must confront both security and climate realities collectively.

President Tinubu called for urgent global action on climate change, advocating for low-carbon pathways and technology transfer to support developing countries in industrialization, poverty eradication, and energy access. He reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to the Paris Agreement and a fair energy transition, emphasizing that Africa bears a disproportionate climate burden despite contributing minimally to global emissions.

Nigeria aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060 while ensuring affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy access. Tinubu reaffirmed Nigeria’s opposition to fear dictating technological advancement, stressing that artificial intelligence (AI) can be harnessed for human progress through expanded digital public infrastructure and tech entrepreneurship.

He reaffirmed the need for reform in the international financial system, advocating for greater concessional financing and debt sustainability structures that recognize developmental needs.